7 The 100 Most Influential Inventors of All Time 7

Eli Whitney’s cotton gin, shown here, revolutionized the cotton industry by mak-

ing it much easier to separate the cotton from the seed. Getty/HultonArchive

Eli Whitney

(b. Dec. 8, 1765, Westboro, Mass. [now in U.S.]—d. Jan. 8, 1825,

New Haven, Conn., U.S.)

E

li Whitney was an American inventor, mechanical

engineer, and manufacturer, best remembered as

the inventor of the cotton gin but most important for

developing the concept of mass production of inter-

changeable parts.

Whitney’s father was a respected farmer who served as

a justice of the peace. In May 1789 Whitney entered Yale

College, where he learned many of the new concepts and